Cutman: Midnight Blade
by Digi Garden
Summary: (Classic fic.) (Ch. 6 up) Geminiman thinks of a deal with a certain someone, and suddenly he finds out something about Elecman that Cutman doesn't even know.
1. The Incident

This really is just a random fic based on an old idea that I sort of want to get out of my head. Yes, it's an AU, yes, it has Gender Benders, and, yes, you can hurt me if you don't like the fact that what could be your favorite Robot Master is altered in appearance, dead, injured, etc. Cutman's Point of View. (POV)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any of the Megaman/Rockman Robot Masters! They belong to Keiji Inafune of Capcom.

Silently, patiently, I waited in the dark. Waiting for a sign… A sign that there was still hope in this war-infested place. Grabbing the handle of an extremely thick, rigid, seven-foot sword stained with blood and rust with my two hands, I stood up and stepped out of the cold, dusty basement, dragging the sword behind.

When I took small, steady steps up the ratty wooden stairs, I heard the sounds of the sword dragging itself from step to step. Just hearing it made my heart skip a beat. Since after _the incident_, I've become quite alert to everything around me. I cringe from thinking of that day… The day my friend betrayed us all.

As far as I could remember, that day was the worst part of my life. And because of that day, our lives fell apart, the other Robot Masters split up, never to see each other again, and my friend was never the same person again.

The day started normally: I was writing in my diary, everybody else was doing… probably things I don't know what, and my best friend, Elecman, a Robot Master with red and black armor, red gloves and boots, and yellow glasses, was doing regular housework. But when I sat alone on my bed, a plain, wooden one with white sheets and pillows, in one of the many bedrooms, writing my most personal thoughts onto a blank page of a blood-red journal, Elecman barged into the room, shaking.

"C…C-Cutman! The basement…" he snapped shockingly between exhaustive breaths, his dark blue eyes growing wide and turned a light blue. "It's on fire!"

After hearing this, I immediately closed the journal and reached the counter nearby for my Rolling Cutter, a round, scissors-like blade. "What are you waiting for? If this fire spreads, it could burn down the whole house," I replied as I put on my orange helmet over my shoulder-length red hair, and followed Elecman out of the room to the basement.

Reaching halfway down the hallway, I slammed open a door, which revealed a set of wooden stairs, and dashed down the steps. When we reached the basement, a wall of blazing fire flickered wildly around us. Through the flames, a shadowy figure walked closer until it stopped several meters in front of me. The fire illuminated the figure's true form, a human-like being with a light orange and white armor, a sharp, dark eye, a scrawny physical appearance, and long, brown hair with bangs that covered his left eye.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Cutman, what they call the 'Midnight Blade', 'Redhead Mexican Swordsman', or my personal, favorite, 'Master of Many Blades'. But much unlike the many names you've been called, you don't seem to be equipped with anything other than a pair of blunt scissors," the figured teased as he chuckled and brushed his bangs. "But I can indeed tell it's you because of that scar you have," he continued as he gestured by making a lightning bolt-shaped scar across his right eye.

"Shut the hell up, Topman. Tell me why you're here," I snapped impatiently at the brown-haired humanoid.

I wanted to charge towards him, but before I could take a step, Elecman placed his hand onto my shoulder gently and said soothingly, "Cutman, if you go after him… This could be a trap." As I calmed down, I lowered my head in frustration, glaring at Topman.

"Hmm. As usual, the stubborn and arrogant types go after me. Unfortunately, most have perished before even touching me." I raised my head slightly in confusion. Topman chuckled again and said, "Many have perished due to their own foolishness. They don't know that I have… a few 'friends' with me. They think of me as a weak person and expect me to actually fight them without a few _obstacles_ to go through." He paused as he raised a hand. "Isn't that right… Elecman?"

Without knowing of this until it was too late, Elecman drew out a silver, three-foot tall sword from behind him and held the blade around my throat. He had this psychotic look on his face; a face I've seen a few times before, but not as insanely crazy as this. He had the light blue eyes he had earlier, only they seemed to have a reddish shade to them. He also had a malicious grin on his face.

He laughed maniacally as he said, almost unable to control his laughter, "Ha! Time to… Ha ha… _Die_!" I clutched my hands onto the blade of the sword, and although they bled, I managed to prevent Elecman from cutting my throat. Suddenly, with his hand on my shoulder, he sent an electrical shock to rush throughout my body. The heat within my body rose as I collapsed to the floor face first. My body felt numb, yet I tell myself to stay awake.

Topman just laughed. "Well, I guess the 'Master' has lost his touch." He turned and walked away. But suddenly, Elecman raised the sword high above his head, and then threw it. The sword flew straight for Topman's head, but he noticed this and lowered his head, dodging it. He gave a smirk and said, "Elecman, I expected better from you. But you're worthless to me now."

Elecman, his hands shaking from rage, clutched Topman by the neck, and dug his fingers deeper into his flesh. "You… You _bastard_!" With the anger burning inside him, he sent a great amount of electrical power into Topman's body.

Topman choked as he tried to remove the insane Robot Master's hands from destroying him, "You're… Ugh. _Insane_!" Then with his breath before death, he whispered to Elecman, "You might… actually be worth something," and collapsed into the wall of fire, the flames licking his flesh.

Down on his knees and exhausted, Elecman noticed my almost unconscious body lying on the floor, panicked, and ran out of the basement, leaving me to die.

Luckily, the house didn't burn down completely, but the fire spread severely. All of the Robot Masters residing here had their reasons to leave, whether personal or for some reasons I can't explain, and some even left the country. Another fortunate thing was that I didn't die in the fire. I was slightly burned badly in some spots, but because of my recently upgraded armor, I couldn't overheat as fast as I used to before. Unfortunately, somehow Topman survived the burning, and still remains somewhere nearby, so I hope to myself that I won't meet him.

The number one thing I'm confused about was why. Why Elecman decided to betray me, but not why Topman burned the house. Topman's really just a cruel bastard that harms or destroys innocent beings, including Robot Masters, just for his own selfish needs. But sometimes, I get confused with him, because there were a few situations we were in, when Topman helped us. But most of the time, he's just someone who wants to prove he's better, and someone whom everyone hates his guts.

As I walked down the old, dark hallways, I hear the sound of a motor and the grinding sound blade repeatedly grinding against stone and wood. I tried to run, but the sword felt too heavy for me to walk any faster, let alone run. Then, the sounds suddenly stopped, and I stood still in my place. I saw a humanlike being with reddish armor on its upper body, arms, and legs, a green jewel on the center of its chest armor, and a reddish helmet with a glass covering on the front. Its head was lowered, but I know who it was.

"Cr-Crashman," I said to the being. "Is… Is that you?" The being walked up to me reluctantly, but halfway through, it fell to his knees and started crying. I crouched to his level and asked, "Are you okay…?" He raised his head, which revealed a scarred, beaten face with bright green eyes that made tears, which roll down his cheeks. I felt guilt swell up inside of myself as I wiped the tears off of his face and whispered, "Don't cry… Everything will turn out right."

Okay, I say the end to this chapter might sound kind of weak, but I wasn't able to think of what else for Cutman to say.  Well, Rate and Review! (R&R)


	2. Cutman vs Gyroman

Whoopie! It's chapter 2! Macross-Green, to answer at least some of your questions briefly: The year's 20XX, Cutman and Topman have known each other, as well as the other robots, for a long time, and Wily won't be in this story. (And I doubt he'll be around for most of my other stories, at least.) Also, the fic is AU in a way that some of the Robot Masters' appearances, probably expected personalities, and if I end up explaining it inner "robotic" skeletal systems are changed.

Thank you, DeathMist, Electric Ammo, Macross-Green, and PRIVATE for the reviews:D You make me smile:) (((I feel pretty, I feel pretty. I feel- is shot)))

And to spoil a bit of the story, but not in a "I'm-a-tellin'-you-stuff-that'll-spoil-a-bunch-of-the-actual-story" –type of way, some parts of Cutman's past is revealed. . Ooh.

Enjoy:)

"Cut…man? Where were you all this time," Crashman asked shakily, but with a smile on his face.

I felt unsure about how to explain this. So I just whispered, more to myself rather than Crashman, "I was here all along."

True, it _has_ been a while since I've seen the other Robot Masters, let alone Crashman. After I was abandoned in the basement, Topman must have deactivated me when I didn't know what was coming. Now, after several years, exactly how long I don't know, I finally found someone. Someone to touch… Someone to love.

"It's been years, Cutman! I'm just so excited to see you," Crashman cried with tears in his eyes as he laid his head against my chest and tried to catch his breath. "I need your help! I-it's-"

He was suddenly interrupted by a crash from behind us. I turned around to see, standing on top of a pile of rubble from creating a hole in the wall, was a humanoid robot with light green armor on his upper body, arms, and legs, along with a matching helmet with a small black and white propeller on the forehead. But what makes him stand out were the skid-like feet and the large black and white propeller on his back. A white, metallic mouthpiece covered his mouth, but I could see the determination burning inside his sharp brown eyes.

As he stepped down from the debris, he eyed me as he said with a bit of an Italian accent, "Well, well, well. If it isn't the former 'Matador of the Moon'."

"Former? What do you mean by that, Gyroman?" I glared into the green robot's eyes.

"Tsk, tsk. Didn't you hear? You've been wiped of… forgotten… in this world." Gyroman, with a sheet of paper suddenly appearing onto his hand, he gave the paper to me. I skimmed it and saw that the paper happened to be a short clip from a newspaper.

Feeling a bit uncertain, I started to read the article, and it said:

"'_20 years ago, he was once a timber feller. Then six years later, he mysteriously disappeared. Now, fourteen years later, some wonder, 'Where has Cutman gone? Is he still alive? Will he make a comeback?'_

_Built by Dr. Light under the Android number _DRN003_ 20 years ago, Cutman was quite the mysterious type. Most people do not know what he's really like, nor have they seen his real face from underneath his mask. Known by many names like 'the Midnight Blade', 'Master of Many Blades', and 'Matador of the Moon', he somehow picked up the Mexican heritage and language, which gives him a Spanish tongue, as well as the skills of an expert bullfighter._

_Unfortunately, his 'native' language made him almost unable to understand much English. Fortunately, when Light built _DRN007_, Elecman, Cutman seemed to have found someone to communicate with, as well as someone who can translate his foreign words. Seeing as that Elecman speaks both English and Spanish, Cutman steadily learned short, simple English words and sentences, and then slowly progressed to longer, more complicated words._

_But five years after several defeats by Megaman, Dr. Light's and Dr. Wily's laboratories both suffered from a nuclear explosion, rumored that the Robot Masters might've planned this, and all of the Robot Masters had split up to different regions of the world. During this incident, Cutman and Elecman, along with most of the Robot Masters, seem to have just disappeared to thin air, as they weren't witnessed anywhere around the world. But approximately two weeks later, they were found in a small city named 'Coloratown', located on an island not found on a map._

_About a year after the reappearance of the Robot Masters, Cutman has disappeared mysteriously once again, and on the same night that a house on Coloratown went aflame. As a witness to the burning, Elecman unfortunately became too shaken to answer the interrogations as to Cutman's whereabouts or the cause of the fire._

_Now, fourteen years later, the Midnight Blade is still missing, and, like his dark-kept secrets from underneath his mask, his whereabouts are currently unknown and hopefully will soon be uncovered...'"_

As I finished reading the last sentence, I clenched my fist, crumpling the bit of paper. "Cut the crap, Gyro! Why did you give me this?"

Gyroman chuckled at me and sneered, "Oh, nothing, really." Then he put his hands behind his back. "Just a little guessing game. Heh, heh. Behind by hands is a random weapon, courtesy of yours truly. You just choose a hand, and there's half a chance of it being most lethal, and half a chance it will be, well, not as lethal." He glared at me again, but mischievously.

I thought hard about which hand to choose: left or right. _Gyro could be lying. Both weapons could be lethal, and he would…_

I was interrupted by two short swords with wooden handles that were twice as long as the blades themselves hovered in front of me, both less than an inch close to touching my neck. Wielding the swords were none other than Gyroman, with a look of pleasure in his eyes. "Surprise. And game over."

But as he raised the swords horizontally to attempt to stab my neck, I immediately ducked out of the way, dashed a couple of steps ahead, and back-flipped high into the air, landing several feet behind Gyroman. As the lime-green aerial robot turned his face towards mine, I summoned two Rolling Cutters, round, scissors-like blades, between my fingers. Holding the two Rolling Cutters in-between my fingers in a face down position, I gestured him to come towards me with my bare left hand.

With a questioned look that then transformed to a sure, confident one, Gyroman, his propellers twisting at high speeds, flew into the air, summoned several green and white icicle-shaped bursts of light around him, all pointing at me. And with a sweep of his arm, scattered all the icicle-like bursts towards me. With the great amount of stamina I still held inside of myself from fourteen years at rest, I easily dodged the first set and hit him with my Rolling Cutters. But right after the last burst of light hit the ground and disappeared, Gyroman summoned larger, more powerful versions of the previous set, and aimed them at me once again. Unlike the smaller ones, these were extremely hard to dodge, and all except for the last two hit me.

Now scratched and bruised, I fell to my knees, catching my breath. Slowly lowering himself from the air by a few inches, Gyroman sneered, "My, my. Haven't as much gumption as you used to, have you?" Armed with a pair of Gyro Blades-small, black and white propeller-like blades, he charged towards me with almost blinding speeds.

As I tried to stand, using some of the little bit of energy I have, Gyroman started to hack and slash at me. By the seventh hit from the Gyro Blades, I quickly kneeled to swipe the eight-foot long broadsword and blocked the eighth. I retorted with a touch of determination, "Maybe. Maybe not. But it seems like the tables are about to turn." And then I tried to hack and slash at him.

Unfortunately, it seems like I keep missing him. Noticing this, Gyroman slid back several feet and insulted, "You _say_ the tables will turn, but I see no difference. What's the matter, 'Matador'? Can't bear to hit me because you're afraid of hurting _poor widdle Cwashman_?" Laughing at his own joke, I eyed a detail that he never noticed and smirked.

Faking the feeling of defeat, I kneeled and laid my sword in front of me. "You know, Gyro, I guess _you're_ the stronger one." I looked up to the aerial robot with a smile on my face. "But there's something wrong. Something _very_ wrong."

"What do you mean by-" Gyro said until he noticed that one of his propellers was broken off. With sheer determination, he tried to fly, but failed. So, while he stands there helplessly, I slid and an uppercut from under him. Gyroman flew high and landed on his back not too far behind me. As I turned towards him and stared at his damaged self struggling to stand, Gyro snapped, "You… Why you little _bastard_!" And when he finally can support himself, he concluded, "You may have won now, but we'll meet again. You can promise that!" After his last word, Gyroman disappeared.

As I looked down and noticed the crumpled up article, I heard Crashman's voice call out to me from close by. I looked to my right and saw Crashman holding an old-looking page of a newspaper with a square-shaped hole on it. "Cutman, I found this nearby the hole on the wall when you were fighting Gyroman. I read it and saw this with it," he said as he pointed to another aged clipping. It looked like a "Wanted" poster from those old Wild West movies, with my picture, the word "Wanted" slapped onto the top, and the fat reward of 250 million under the picture.

_It sounds kind of funny that not only did people want to know my deepest secrets, but that they wanted to make money off of my head_, I thought to myself. "Well, whatever this is, and who made it, we'll search until we find out who, or until we die trying," I said to Crashman, with a hint of optimism in myself. Which must sound kind of unusual to the little red robot, considering I rarely sound happy when I speak.


	3. Skullman Caring Deeply

CH. 3:D Just a reminder, this story is from Skullman's POV. ENJOY! (**Disclaimer**: So far, nobody but Mistra belongs to me. So don't sue me! 00;;)

As a fourteen-year-old girl about five feet, with reddish-pink hair, and wearing a black shirt, black skirt and a pair of dark gray boots, sat on a plastic swing seat attached to metal bars with metal chains, I decided to sit onto the seat next to her. The girl coughed a bit and then said softly, "Skullman… Sometimes, I get this feeling that I won't be able to live any longer."

I stared in shock at the comment. "Why, Mistra? Why would you think of such a thing?"

The girl, Mistra, shook her head. "Skullman, you've changed quite a bit ever since you became my bodyguard." She smiled at me.

I remembered what happened thirteen years ago, when I intruded her house on her first birthday. I threatened to kill her, but for some reason, I just couldn't bear to harm such a young child. So her parents made a deal with me: I stay and become Mistra's bodyguard, and in return, her father's life belongs to me. Besides, after all these years, I think I've found a hobby that doesn't involve fighting.

"In a way, I don't mind that my dad sacrificed his life to spare mine, but… On the other hand, sometimes I miss him. His face is becoming just a faded memory to me. There are times when I wish to see him in person… Just once more." Mistra covered her mouth and made a sneezing sound from behind her hand.

"Are you okay? You don't sound well." I got off of the swing seat and touched the girl's forehead. "Mistra, you feel warm. Maybe we should go home… Before it gets dark."

"Don't be such a worrywart, Skullman," Mistra said to me in a way that's supposed to make me feel less concerned, but didn't. "But… I'll be inside in a few minutes. Just wait for me in the house, okay?"

I thought it was a good deal, even though it was starting to get cold and it seems that Mistra was sick, so I just nodded in agreement. "You can stay, but no more than _five_ minutes. If you're not in by then, I'm coming out to get you, okay?" Mistra nodded in agreement, and I walked into the house nearby.

Every minute that I sat on the red-brown leather couch, reading _The World's Scariest Stories_, I watched the gold-framed clock ticking the seconds that flew by. By fifteen minutes, I started to feel a bit anxious. _What's taking her so long_, I thought in my head worriedly as I closed the book and walked out of the house. When I stood from the front porch, I looked at the nicely cut lawn, paved sidewalk, and empty swing set. _Wait. Empty swing set?_ There, on the ground in front of one of the swings, was Mistra, with a bloody dagger inserted deeply into her back.

A week after Mistra's death, the funeral took place. Everyone in town, including her mother, wore black clothing and mourned for her as a black coffin, carried by four young men in black tuxedos, went down the aisle slowly and steadily to a large, square-shaped hole that was about six feet deep. Even though sadness welled up in me to a point where one would burst to tears, all I could do was shed a tear. Although, her mother laid her head on my shoulder, sobbing.

Three days after the funeral, I went to the cemetery, which was only a block away, to visit Mistra's grave. But when I went there, I noticed that it was dug up, and her coffin was ajar. I jumped down and removed the lid from the coffin, only to find it empty. _Who—no… What kind of monster would want to steal a young girl's body_, I thought to myself as I climbed out of the hole.

Just then, I heard the voice of a young man speak to me with a very slight German accent, "Seems like you're just in time… Or not." I turned and saw a young humanlike male with short, green hair that covered his right eye, tan-green pants, a bare upper body, and dark eyes, relaxing on a branch on a tree. His fingertips stained with blood, the male licked the blood off with a thin, forked tongue. "Lunch was quite delectable, though she could've afforded to wear a bit less eyeliner." He leaned his back against the trunk of the tree and folded his arms behind his head.

I glared at him angrily as I snapped, "Snakeman, you bastard! Did you eat Mistra?"

The green-haired male scratched his chin, looking curious, as well as mischievous. "Maybe I did. But maybe I _didn't_." Suddenly, the branch broke, and Snakeman fell down, landing onto some bushes under the tree. "S-s-so maybe I did. S-so _what_," he hissed, and quite literally, as he has a snake's tongue.

I glared at him, and then I lowered his head and sighed. "She-she was my friend. My best friend… My _only_ friend. I took care of her since she was just an infant, and now, after thirteen short years, _you_ had to kill her." The feeling inside of me, anger, boiled inside of me as my right hand converted itself into a cannon-like gun. I raised my gun to charge it up, and I aimed it at Snakeman. "I felt like a second father to her. I stood by her side when she needed protecting. I actually _cared_ for her!" Without hesitation, I shot a large, purple blast at Snakeman.

Unfortunately, he was aware of this, and flipped sideways, dodging the blast. He brushed his bangs aside and smirked mischievously. "Feh. Obviously, you've grown soft, Skullman. There's nothing that makes me more s-s-sick—

"Sicker," I corrected.

"Whatever. Nothing makes me _s-s-sicker_ than a robot that cares for humans-s! And you, of all of us-s Robot Masters, you just make me wanna barf right now!" Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sheet of paper. He threw the paper, but it fell to the ground. Snakeman just shrugged and said, "But I'll make an exception. If you want that girl back, just call the number on that bit of paper."

"But what if they try to trick me…?"

"If you want her back right now, I could just regurgitate her out of my mouth-"

"On second thought, I'll just call them," I said with a disgusted look.

"Well, fare thee well," Snakeman said gleefully before he disappeared.

I picked up the sheet of paper, and saw the phone number, as well as a message:

**Want your deepest wishes fulfilled? Then call: 555-427-6841**

Bewildered but determined, I ran back into the house, ran outside with a cell phone, and called the number.

I'm sorry if this chapter's kind of short compared to the previous two. What does this have to do with Cutman? You'll find out later. evil laugh


	4. Shadowman Dealing With It

Well, here's Ch. 4, now done in Shadowman's POV. I just hope Shadowman or (especially) Quickman fans don't hurt me! 0. 

"Waiter. Refills, please. For me and my friend here," I said as I pointed to my friend, a humanlike male robot with reddish armor on his arms, upper body, and lower legs, with a matching helmet, and yellow boomerangs on the front of his helmet and chest armor. His blue eyes were half-open, which sometimes bothers me, considering they were like almost all the time, and his head lay onto his right arm on the table, the left one loosely holding a glass mug.

When the waiter left to receive our order, my friend spoke drunkenly, "Ya know, Shadow, we're running low on funds, and since we don't have jobs…"

"But what about your job as a mechanic, Quickman," I asked.

"Well, last week some guy just pissed me off, so I beat the bloody crap outta him. Manager called me up to 'is office, yelled at me with crap 'bout me fightin' with the other mechanics, so I told 'im to fuck off 'n quit."

"Well, what did you do with that paycheck? Or the other one?" Quickman said nothing. "Don't tell me you—_Argh_! I can't believe you! You spent the money _drinking_?"

"'Fraid so…"

"Quickman! You know we needed that money for the bills! 'Cause if we don't have it, we'll have to sell the apartment."

Suddenly, a familiar, gentle voice called to the waiter, "Waiter! I'd like to order some of your best wine, please." I turned to the source of it: Topman, who sat two seats to my right. Topman turned towards me and said, "Oh, Shadowman! I wasn't expecting you just now. How convenient that you were having money problems. You see, I found a poster asking for a bounty that's worth 250 million." He handed me the poster and walked out of the bar.

Quickman and I read it and looked at Topman. Quickman snatched the poster from my hands and said as he looked at it curiously, "Cutman… I'm surprised he's alive. And, hot damn, that's a lotta money for him. 250 million smackers!" Then he said, determined, "I'll do it, whether he's dead or alive!"

I shouted suddenly, "Quickman! He could be tricking us. I won't do it!"

"Well, Shadow, _you're_ the one that mentioned about our crappy funds! _You're_ the one that started all this," Quickman snapped back angrily as he grabbed me by the collar. "And as of now, this friendship is _over_," he concluded as he threw me out of the bar.

When I landed in the streets, I stood up, my whole body aching, and started to walk. After a couple of minutes, I started to get used to the pain, and began walking straight, until I bumped into somebody. When I fell to the ground, I noticed the person who bumped into me.

_Cutman? It can't be_, I thought to myself as a familiar Robot Master held out his hand and helped me up.

"Hey, Shadow. What're you doing alone," Cutman asked me.

"If you're asking about Quickman, well…" Then I drifted off.

"It's okay. I understand. I've found out about the bounty, too. I just hope that no one actually _does_ get my head…"

"That's where yer wrong," said a familiar voice as the owner of it hit me in the back. Quickman, who owned the voice, continued, "I _will_ get Cutman's head, and as an extra, I'll have _yours_ as well." He gave me a crooked smile as he charged towards Cutman at incredible speeds.

Cutman tried to avoid Quickman's full-on attacks with his broadsword, but with no avail. As Cutman fell to the ground, Quickman placed his foot onto his head, and with both of his hands, he started to summon a giant Quick Boomerang. But before the summon could be complete, he was struck in the back by a big-boned Robot Master in black armor with a reddish chest-plate on his upper body, and red and yellow armor on his arms and legs. He also had a red, metallic Mohawk-type haircut on his bald, yellow head.

When Quickman fell to the ground unconscious, the big robot stood there with his elbow thrusting out. Lowering his arm, he said to Cutman, "Well, look right here. It's Cutman!" He looked down to me. "And Shadow as well." He gave me a hand and helped me up. He then called out, "Hey, guys! It's Cutman!"

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, two Robot Masters walked up to Cutman. One of them is a small, childlike Robot Master whose icy blue armor looks like an Eskimo's coat, and has white boots, gloves, and belt. The small robot sat on a large, muscular, red and yellow Robot Master with black armor on his upper body.

The childlike Robot Master jumped down from the bigger one's shoulder and squealed happily, "Cutman, Cutman! You're alive!" He hugged Cutman's leg tightly.

"Iceman, you're hurting my leg," Cutman said softly.

I noticed that someone was missing. "Wait! There's Cutman, Bombman, Iceman, and Gutsman. But where's Fireman and Elecman," I asked the foursome.

Iceman yelped in fear and hid his face onto Cutman's leg. "Elecman… He's creepy," he stuttered.

A mysterious man's voice called out to us. "I'm right here." The owner of the voice belongs to a male, humanlike robot mostly in gray armor, but with red armor on his arms, upper body, and kneecaps. He also had a gray helmet that covers his mouth, but exposes his silver-blue eyes. I could already recognize from seeing the top of his helmet that lit a great flame that he was Fireman.

_Right now, I feel kind of emotional… In a good way. Cutman, reunited with Bombman, Fireman, Gutsman, and Iceman—the Sinister Six… The group's a little broken, but having most of them together like this… Laughing and having fun like brothers. No… They _are_ brothers._

_If only my "brothers" were together like this more often._

Well, that's it of Ch. 4. I'm sorry if it's too short or too filled with dialogue. Well, stay tuned for chapter 5:D


	5. Old Friends, Old Memories

Before you read, I warn Geminiman fans that if you dislike his appearance being altered that you should not read any further than this (or at least, not this chapter). That'll be all. :)

As my "brothers" and I celebrated our little reunion, I heard a deep, husky voice asking me, "Is he yours?" I turned around and saw a (somewhat) muscular, humanlike male, standing at about six feet tall with gray, cloth-like armor on his body, as well as a light blue belt and matching armor on his arms and legs, and a light, crystal blue armor on his chest. He didn't have a helmet, but instead, he had straight, sky bluish hair, reaching about an inch above his broad shoulders, with light blue, almost white crystals dangling underneath. The strangest but most interesting feature about him was his sky blue fox tail swishing about. In his muscular arms was Crashman, sleeping comfortably.

He continued, "I found him lying on the ground, and I thought I should bring him in to you."

Just then, Crashman woke up, seeing the large, blue-haired male, and smiled. "Gem," he squealed as he wrapped his arms around the male's neck. "Oh, Geminiman, you're here! But how…"

"He found you and brought you here," I replied, pretty much repeating what Geminiman said to me.

Crashman removed his arms from Geminiman's neck. "Well, thank you," he said to both of us and smiled. Then he looked at my brothers and me and asked, "Where's Iceman?"

I looked down at my leg and around me, recently noticing that Iceman wasn't around. "What the"

An ear piercing scream and scratching sounds from nearby interrupted me. Bombman pointed to the direction opposite of us and said as he ran towards the sounds, "Sounds like it came from this way. Let's go!" We followed along behind Bombman, Fireman, Crashman, and me running ahead of Gutsman and Geminiman.

Several meters later, we dashed down an alleyway to our left until we reached the source of the voices. Elecman, his armor dented and torn, eyes turned red from madness and with black bags underneath as though he never had sleep in years, his armor and face stained with blood, and without his glasses, clawed at a wounded, bleeding Iceman that lay helplessly against a brick wall. Elecman laughed maniacally as he continued to slash at the childlike Robot Master. "Take that! And that! And _that_," the insane robot shouted madly with each strike.

"Stop that right now," I demanded as I drew out my broadsword. Right away, Elecman stopped attacking Iceman and faced towards me with a crooked, malicious smile.

"Something tells me this isn't gonna be pretty," Bombman said worriedly.

"So, Cutman, you've been alive all along…" Elecman's eyes became a dark blue as he wrapped his arms around me and sobbed. "I-I thought I never was going to see you again." He clutched onto me tighter as his sobbing started to sound more and more like laughing. Suddenly, a jolt of electricity rushed through my body, shocking me from inside. Elecman looked up at me with the same red eyes and crooked smile he had before. Elecman let go of me and started to claw at me the same way he did with Iceman. But after about twelve slashes, a large, muscular arm held his arms back. "What the hell? Lemme go," Elecman shouted demandingly.

Elecman looked up and saw Geminiman holding him back. "I didn't want to do this, but…" Then he threw Elecman at the wall behind him and punched him in the back with full force, thus breaking a hole through the wall. Geminiman stared at the destruction he created, then at me and whispered as he then looked down to his hands, "I'm sorry… But it had to be done, and I couldn't help myself." Then he walked up to Iceman and carried him in his arms.

Honestly, I don't know what to say. I've known Elecman for a long time, and I know he suffers from his personality changing from kind and helpful to uncontrollably insane. Usually, the sight of blood or him being alone triggers his psychotic side and I would be the only one who can stop him. It's like a puppeteer trying to control a possessed marionette. But now, probably from being gone for so long, Elecman wasn't able to control his madness any longer.

I lowered my head and, practically without knowing it, shed a few tears from my large, dark eyes down my cheeks. Then Fireman placed his hand onto my shoulder and encouraged me in a laid back tone, "I don't know Elecman nearly as much as you do, but I _do_ know that if someone can help him, it's you. And when he's better from whatever he's going through, then all six of us can live a happy life together."

I shook my head and wiped my tears away. "No. I'm afraid he's finally lost it. I don't think even _I_ could help him now." I sighed and whispered, "It's hopeless."

Fireman wrapped his arm around the back of my neck and smiled as he spoke to the others, who were about to leave, "You go on without us. I have to show him something quickly." When they left, he crouched down in front of the area that Elecman crashed through, and dusted the debris away. The only thing that remained was Elecman, bruised and bleeding from the force. Fireman removed Elecman's black helmet and yellow glasses, revealing bedraggled, dark blue hair that reached down his back with a great streak of grayish hair. Fireman placed the helmet onto Elecman's chest and whispered in a prayerful manner, "Elecman, I know that you're going through a hard time, but I know that Cutman will help you pull through."

I paused, wondering about what he's doing and why. But watching him do it made me want to do it as well. I whispered in a prayerful manner like Fireman, "Elecman, if you can hear me, I want to know that you were the best friend I ever had. And I want to let you know that if you set your mind—no, your heart—to it, you'll pull through. Although…" I drifted off for a moment before I concluded, "I wish you well."

"Well, say your prayers. On account of that you'll be dead in little time," a voice said malevolently. I looked up to find a skeleton-like humanoid Robot Master with black and white armor, a red jewel on his forehead, and sharp, dark eyes.

"Let me handle this," Fireman said softly to me as his right hand converted into a gun. He then uppercut the skeleton-like Robot Master, throwing him back. Fireman walked up to him and asked, his voice sounding low, "Skullman, why are you here?" Skullman said nothing. Fireman picked him up by the collar and snarled viciously, his eyes burning red with anger, "Tell me! Or else…" He held his gun against Skullman's head and started charging it up.

I demanded as I held back Fireman's arm, "Fireman! Don't do this! Just listen"

"Shut the hell up," Fireman snapped as he pushed me off. When I fell to the ground, I felt the handle of my broadsword and picked it up. I raised the eight-foot sword above my head, readying it for a big attack.

But then I stopped, shaking. _I… I can't do it. I can't kill him. Not my brother!_ Getting tangled up between the choice of whether or not to do it, I dropped my sword, fell to my knees, hid my face with my hands, and started to cry. Fireman let go of Skullman and turned towards me, his eyes turning from red to a dark green.

"Cutman," I heard Fireman say as he placed his hand on my shoulder. "You can attack me from behind, even destroy me cold-heartedly, but I _don't_ want to see you cry. Not now, not ever." He then wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight.

But the moment didn't last long when Skullman butted in. "I'll confess. Snakeman suggested that I call this phone number and… And I didn't know whose it was until the caller… My new client… replied. He said… in order to satisfy _my_ wishes, I have to kill you." He then gave me the familiar "Wanted" poster with my face, along with a small card containing a phone number. "You probably might have heard of the bounty for you. Almost everyone, mortal or robot is after you. Fortunately, the Robot Masters had killed most of the mortals that are after you. But we have different abilities and strategy patterns; so we might be a harder match for you in comparison. We're bound to meet again. That is, if we both manage to survive by then. Farewell, Cutman," he concluded before he disappeared into the shadows.

After Skullman disappeared, I asked Fireman, "Do you think that maybe… Topman might have something to do with this?" Fireman didn't reply, so I looked at the card with the phone number and said, "There's only one way to find out." I paused for a moment, just realizing that I don't have a phone to call with.

Just then, Fireman handed a small cell phone to me. "Here's my cell phone. Call the number quickly. If someone—or something—replies, ask for their name, and once they do, hang up or whatever."

And like he said, I pressed the numbered buttons on the tiny phone and raised it to ear level. The caller's answering machine said, "Hello, this is Flameman. Sorry to say that I'm currently not available right now, so leave a message after the tone." Shortly before the tone, I immediately hung up and gave the phone back to Fireman.

"So, who was it?"

I replied, "It's… Flameman."

Fireman looked at me in surprise. "But… I thought he was…"

My tone lowered as I put my head down. "We all did. We thought he disappeared from after the nuclear incident." Then I remembered a part of the newspaper article, which reminded us of the incident. "_Dr. Light's and Dr. Wily's laboratories both suffered from a nuclear explosion, rumored that the Robot Masters might've planned this, and all of the Robot Masters had split up to different regions of the world."_

At least from all of what I could remember, it started at the lab when Dr. Light was working on a new project, which he dubbed " Project X". He called the type of new robot a "reploid", and said, if successful, the design would improve robotics the world over. It looked like Megaman in a few ways: humanlike, with blue armor and an arm cannon. But this was different; it looked taller, much lighter in terms of weight, mature, and more advanced. _There's so many of us Robot Masters that he could just improve. Why just suddenly build a whole new robot?_ It puzzled me so. I left the lab, not wanting to see some adult clone of my "brother", a true hero.

As I lay under a tree, questioning myself about Project X, even though I don't know or want to, Topman walked up to me and sat nearby. He asked about how I'm doing, and I replied by telling him about the Project Dr. Light was working on and how I feel about it. Then Topman said something about him feeling the same way when he heard that Dr. Wily was working on a project called "Project Zero". But he said he was working on a project with the help of the other Robot Masters, which made things sound quite convenient. I asked what it was about, and he replied that he would've kept it a secret, but since I was curious, he made an exception.

He led me to the basement of Dr. Wily's laboratory, which was nearby, and handed me some blueprints. It showed designs of a robot's skeletal system, with pictures of circuits and wires for the interior, but the exterior actually looked much like that of a human skeleton. The exception was a cylinder-shaped tank attached to a square-shaped piece of machinery behind the "ribs", and a flexible, bent cylinder attached to the square, both being the only "organs" in the body. As Topman explained about the designs and their purposes, I thought about how interesting the idea of making Robots become one grand step closer to becoming more humanlike than ever.

Until suddenly we felt a rumble from underneath us. Before I could ask what might've caused it, the whole lab exploded from under us. Next thing I could remember was waking up outside of the lab, lying beside a tree in a forest. Topman lay beside me, his light brown bangs brushing the left side of his face. This made me wonder where the other Robot Masters had gone. The last words I remember him saying before I lost consciousness, "I know a place where our troubles will soon disappear… A place where us Robot Masters are free, called… Demivirtua."

What happened in Demivirtua is a completely different story. But two weeks after the _nuclear incident_, some of the Robot Masters and me, with new and successful skeletal systems, decided to live a peaceful life in a large house in Coloratown, the house including an attic and basement. Unfortunately, about a year later, _the incident_ occurred.

Fireman crossed his arms and glared at me. "Sounds pretty tough to be you, having to deal with others betraying you, including…"

Interrupted, Fireman's arms loosened as he fell to the ground, his back, with large scratch marks, started bleeding severely. Behind him stood Elecman, his fingertips stained with Fireman's dark, crimson blood and his eyes looking more malicious than last time. As he laughed uncontrollably, he dug his fingers of his right hand deep into the right side of his face, scarring himself. Then he calmed down a bit and cried out, "Cutman… I never meant to betray you. It's just… It's too hard to explain. It was either one or the other, and of all the stupid choices I had to make, I chose him over _you_!" He fell to his knees with his hands covering his face, he cried and shouted about how stupid he thought he was.

Trying to support him, I kneeled to his level and leaned his head onto my shoulder. "You're not stupid, Elecman. You're just—well, let's just say you're under stress. Sometimes, when we—humans and robots—become stressed out, they end up saying or doing things they never meant to do."

From hearing this, Elecman's eyes slowly turned to a dark blue hue as they formed tears that fell down his cheeks, stinging the deep gashes he made. He wrapped his arms around my neck tightly, practically choking me. His eyes immediately changed back to a blood red as he laughed maniacally and gnawed at the flesh on my shoulder. _Looks like I don't have much of a choice_, I thought as I summoned a Rolling Cutter from my right hand and stabbed it through Elecman's stomach.

His arms loosened as he slid down my arm to the floor, losing consciousness. Then, removing the Rolling Cutter from his stomach, I carried his bloody (hopefully not) corpse in my arms and placed it beside a wall in the alley. Wiping the blood off his face, I whispered, "Sorry, Elecman." Shedding a tear, I went to pick up Fireman's body, wrapped his arms around my neck, and walked away.

Probably not the best ending to a chapter, but it's better than nothing. :D Stay tuned for Ch. 6!


	6. Geminiman Remember and Surprise

_So much for being peaceful_, I thought to myself as I sighed in exasperation from thinking about hurting Elecman. That moment reminded me about the mission. I never wanted to do it, but this could be my only ticket to freedom from Topman.

Fourteen years ago, after I got these new modifications, I had to repay him somehow. So I promised eternal loyalty and obedience to him. He liked the idea and said powerful words that have stuck to my mind ever since, "You may not be as agile nor as graceful anymore, but you have the intelligence, the senses, the skills, like that of a wolf's. But you have the physical strength that ranks _much_ higher than that of a bear's. You make—no, you _are_ a powerful, killing machine! You'll make a _wonderful_ and loyal dog to me." So, here I am, like a dog on a very painful leash, with Topman as my cruel, selfish owner.

While thinking of Elecman, Cutman walked by me gloomily, dragging Fireman's unmoving body along. I wanted to ask what happened, but it seemed obvious that he doesn't want to talk about it. I just stared at the unconscious red and gray robot on his back. Which reminded me of something.

_The mission was to kill Cutman, not protect him_, I thought of what Topman would say if he finds me with him. _You have all this strength—this **power**! —Yet you can't even harm a scrawny, outdated Robot Master! You disgust me, Gem. You just disgust me._

Not wanting to think about him any more than I have to almost every day, I started wondering if Elecman is still alive. I ran back to the alley, although my heavy body slowed me down. When I reached the alley, I noticed Elecman, without his helmet, but with a large gash through his stomach, and a bloodstained Rolling Cutter not too far from him. I stroked his long, blue hair and the grayish white streak with my fingers while I tried to remove the blood from his stomach area with my other hand. My hand moved up towards his chest armor, until I reached underneath it.

_Something feels… Sort of weird about this area_, I thought to myself as I slipped the armor from his body. Staring in shock at this surprise, I held Elecman's almost bare body in my arms, covering any parts not meant to be seen, along with the unconscious Robot Master's armor on my right shoulder, and tried to catch up with Cutman.

When I finally reached where Cutman last was, I barely noticed him standing there, and I crashed into him. After I got off of him, he asked, "Why are you in a rush? It's almost like you just saw…" He trailed off his sentence to notice Elecman's naked body lying on my arms. "Elecman…" He suddenly stared at the upper body closely in surprise. "Is _female_?"

I nodded slowly as I carefully slipped the cloth part of _her_ armor over her body. A few minutes later, after I finished clothing Elecman, her eyes opened. "Where… Where am I?" She turned to see me, then looked over to Cutman, who spoke Spanish seemingly nonstop in a very traumatized and shocked tone. She laughed at Cutman's foreign rants and said in a calm manner, "If it's about me being a girl, it's nothing to worry about. Sometimes _I_ don't even notice. In fact, there are a lot of things I don't know about myself. Like…" She stared into space for a moment before continuing, "I guess I don't even know the questions to them." She chuckled at the absurdity of her remark.

Cutman stopped rambling and he said, his words sound light and airy, "But… How come I didn't know this? Why didn't you tell me when you did know?"

Elecman smiled at him. "I guess… I just didn't feel like it when I did." Then she grabbed Cutman's arm, bringing him close to her, then she started to remove his helmet. The front part of the helmet swooshed off to the side immediately, revealing Cutman's tanned skin, at the color of sand wet from the ocean water, and strands of pure red bangs. Elecman removed his helmet entirely, showing straight, red hair that had grown slightly past his shoulders. Then her lips touched his, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

I watched the friendly couple as they kissed, blushing a bit. _They would've been a fine couple… If only Cutman didn't have that crush on Heatman._ A moment later, the two stopped kissing.

Just then, a young girl's voice asked as a white hand tapped my shoulder, "Excuse me. Mister Gemmy?" I raised my pointed, wolf-like ears, which were hiding under my hair, and turned my head. The owner of the voice looked like a very chubby young girl with red hair, green eyes, and with the cloth part of her armor red and gray, the armor on her arms were red, as well as her boots, but they have a golden band at the opening. In some terms, she looks like Crashman, but female and plumper than her helmeted counterpart. "Um… I lost my brother—again. And a while ago, I saw him go this-and-that-away. And, well, you know. So, as a friend, I ask you: Have you seen my brother… Crashman?"

I nodded in certainty as Cutman said, "He's with Bombman and the others." He pointed to the direction behind him. "Last time I checked, they should be going that way."

The girl smiled happily, looking even cuter than before. "Thank you, Mr. Cutty!" Cutman blushed at the thought of his recently received nickname. She looked towards Elecman, then just noticing her small set of breasts. "Well, at least I know now that not all of Light's robots are female besides Roll." Looking up to her face and blushing, the girl said joyfully before leaving, "Well, bye-bye, Ms. Leccy!"

Elecman waved at the girl and replied, "Bye, Heatman!" She put her hand down and looked towards Cutman. "She's a very nice girl. I don't even remember why I used to be jealous of her. Now that I got that off of my chest." She gave his helmet back to Cutman and walked away, which eventually became running.

Cutman put on his helmet, looked down, and blushed. "That… Was quite a strange scene. I wonder what was with the kiss."

I put my hand on his head. "Cutman, can't you see it? I think she actually likes you."

_Argh!_ o xx Another junky ending to the fic! (smacks self) Dang it! Make better endings, Iz!


End file.
